1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed toward a sod planting machine which cuts a larger section of sod into smaller pieces for planting and, more specifically, toward a sod planting machine which cuts a section of sod into pieces of a predetermined size which are then deposited onto the ground and planted by a roller.
2. Prior Art
Various machines have been developed for the cutting and planting of sod. The sod handling machine and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,889,878 appears to be one of the first sod cutting machine of the modern era. However, the machine disclosed in this patent has a number of disadvantages, including its inability to handle sods of different thicknesses without manually adjusting the feed chute, its use of saw blades to cut the sod, and the lack of a means for preventing the sod from adhering to the saw blades. Furthermore, the machine disclosed in this patent utilizes two separate cutting means for performing the longitudinal and latitudinal cuts on the sod.
The invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,949,083 is directed to a sod plug planter and, more particularly, to a machine which also digs a hole to receive a sod plug and which plants the plug therein. The primary object of this invention is to cut plugs from a larger piece of sod and to insert these plugs into a hole dug by the machine. This invention has several disadvantages, including the need for a hole digging mechanism, which adds extraneous mechanical complexity and weight to the machine, and the potential for an inordinate amount of wasted sod left over from the plug cutting step.
The invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,002 apparently cuts large sod pieces into smaller sections suitable for planting. Although this device may produce generally square blocks or generally rectangular strips, it has several disadvantages, including the use of several saw-like blades similar to the machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,889,878 and the need for two cutting mechanisms in order to produce the square blocks. Therefore, in order to produce the square blocks, this device must use two completely separate and individual cutting mechanisms.
Two other sod planting machines, one of which is based on the other, which cut larger pieces of sod into smaller pieces of sod and then lay the pieces of sod on the ground have been developed. However, both of these machines have the same disadvantages, including having cutting heads which have cutting blades which do not attack the large pieces of sod at right angles, therefore increasing the instances of jamming of the machines. Additionally, these machines do not introduce the large pieces of sod at a zero degree angle relative to vertical, thus also resulting in increased instances of jamming. Furthermore, these machines do not incorporate pivoting assemblies for repair and cleaning ease, buster bars for preliminary ground preparation, and hydraulic transportation wheels for ease of transportation and operation.